The Last Words of a Dying Victor
by Harley of Narnia
Summary: The story of Summer Remet, the first victor of the Hunger Games, as told in her own words.
1. My Beginnings

**The Last Words of a Dying Victor**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does. All that I own are the original characters that my brain comes up with. You'll know them, because they are not in the books, and they aren't familiar. If you can't tell the difference, I suggest that you read the book. Thanks for reading!**

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**Chapter 1: My Beginnings**

My name is Summer. Summer Remet. I was the Victor of the very first annual Hunger Games. I'm dying, you see. My days are growing short, and I have no one to which I could tell these things. They are all gone. So I am writing to you, reader, in hopes that one day you will find this, and use it to try and stop the Capitol again, and this time succeed, so let me start from the beginning. The very beginning.

My home is District 4. I was born before the Dark Days began, when the Capitol's oppression knew no bounds. My family was a humble one, making fishing nets for a living. We weren't rich by any means, but we got by. We had food to eat, a small house to live in, but most importantly, we had each other.

My father was a strong man. He loved my mother and I, and tried to keep us fed. Through his hard work, he succeeded in that. My mother was beautiful, I was told, when she was younger. In the one photograph that I have of her, she looked stunning. It was the picture of my mother and father on their wedding day. She changed, though. Her hair grew gray, and her skin began to feel the effects of the constant sun. Even though, my father still said every day that she was the most beautiful woman he knew.

At the beginning of the Dark Days, I knew nothing of the rebellion. I was little then, and I didn't understand what the importance of all of it was. I didn't know that my own father was a figurehead in the resistance of 4. He arranged all of the weapons, rebel movements, and supply lines in all of District 4. I guess that he never figured that the districts would lose the war until it was too late.

At the end of the war, my father was put on trial along with a number of other rebel leaders. He was convicted of espionage, perjury, treason, and multiple counts of first degree murder. They were some kind of Capitol officials, the people my father was accused of killing. All of the charges were true, except for the murder charges. He didn't kill them. The Capitol knew it too. He was sentenced to death. I was forced to watch my father beheaded, as punishment for the rebellion. I was eleven years old.

My mother fell into a deep depression, fueled by my father's brutal death and the constant fear that the Capitol was coming for us. Eventually, she was unable to care for me, so I went to live with my aunt, my father's sister, who was my only extended family.

My aunt took me away from the only part of District 4 that I knew. I left my best (and only) friend Jack, my mother, and my home, but most importantly, I left the sea, which was the only place that I was ever happy following my father's death.

My aunt lived far from the sea. She lived in a small village near the shipping plant that loaded all of our goods onto trains and shipped them to the Capitol. My aunt was never able to provide me with enough food to be fully nourished, because she was used to only providing for one person when it came to food-herself. She tried to feed me enough, and she was good to me. but I still ended up extremely underweight, compared to how I was before I moved in with her. With each passing hour, I ached for my home, and I couldn't wait to find a way back.

The Capitol didn't begin the Hunger Games right after the Dark Days, due to tracking down and trying 'war criminals'. But, 3 years after the Districts' defeat, it was announced that a Reaping would be held sometime in the summer. We found out in January. That was also when we found out what the Hunger Games were.

When I was 14, I finally left my aunt. I packed my few belongings into a bag and began to walk. I didn't know exactly where I was going, but all I knew was that I was going to get home. Somehow.

Two days after I ran away from my aunt, I finally was home again. Everything was familiar to me, from the calming lapping of the waves on the beach that was constantly in the background, to the smell of the salt on the air, to the screeches of the seagulls. I was ecstatic.

The first thing I did was go to Jack's house, which was on the water. His family worked as crab fishermen, and often were forced to stay out on the sea for days on end. The longest they were ever out there was a week, because the crabs refused to be caught. So, the peacekeepers kept them out there until they met their quota.

Luckily, Jack's family had just gotten back from a trip, and he was sitting out on his front porch, cleaning the traps. I could hear his parents yelling to each other, trying to get the fishing boat situated at the dock.

"Jack!"

Jack looked up from his trap cleaning, trying to see who was yelling at him. His longish dark hair stuck out in every direction, just as it always had. His hair always had a problem with staying neat. When I was little, I told him once that I thought that his hair and hairbrush needed counseling. They had a bad relationship. He laughed, then promptly shoved me off of the boat we were on.

As Jack held his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He stood up, threw aside the crab trap on his lap, and jumped off of his porch, arms stretched out wide to receive me.

I ran as fast as I could, and was instantly engulfed in one of Jack's famous bear hugs. He was squeezing me so tight, that I couldn't breathe. I could barely choke out one word, "J-Jack..."

"Oh, sorry," he said as he pulled away. That was when I noticed how much he had changed since we last saw each other.

He had had a growth spurt, and grown a good five inches, two taller than me. His muscles had gotten bigger and stronger, and it was obvious that all of the work on the water was doing him good in that department. I would never tell him this, but he's grown quite... well... attractive, I guess.

"About time you showed up around here," Jack said laughing. "Where have you been? You never said where you were going."

"My aunt took me over. Why, are you obligated to know where I am every day, all the time?"

"Well no, you just... never said goodbye..."

I can tell from the look in his eyes that I truly hurt him. I see how, I mean, your best friend just disappears off the face of the earth for almost three years, and you don't know what happened to them. No word, no rumors, nothing. Not a clue.

"Listen, I'm sorry. My aunt just whisked me off, and left me no time to say goodbye. Not to you, not to my home, not even to my mother."

He looks at the ground for a second, then looks at me again. He looks like he's about to say something, then thinks better about it. "Got your letters. Never could write back though. Didn't know your address."

He shifts around uncomfortably, then starts to mess with his hair a bit.

"Jackson Silas Odair, I've known you for how many years?" I ask him. "A lot..." "How many _exactly_?" "Ten years," he mutters. "That means that I know you pretty well," I pause to look him in the eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"

He sighs, then takes a deep breath.

"Your mother is dead. Been dead for about two and a half years."

This news absolutely floors me. "H-How?" I manage to spit out. "Yellow fever outbreak a couple months after you left. A dozen more from our village, more in the others up the coast. I'm so sorry, I know how close you two were."

He's right, we were close. She was all I had.

In my stunned silence, he wraps his arms around me and holds me tight, just like he used to do whenever I was stuck at his house during a summer thunderstorm when we were kids. He knew how scared I was of the thunder, so he would wrap his arms around me and hold me like I was his own sister until the storm was over or until I fell asleep.

After a few minutes, he led me in the house and made some tea. We drank it in silence. After we were finished, it was already twilight. He took me to the bedroom where both he and his parents slept. It's exactly as I remember it. Two tiny beds with thin sheets and a handmade quilt on each one, both on either side of a small window. "You can stay here with us." He smiled softly, then tucked me into his bed. I smiled a little, then whispered an almost inaudible, "Thanks." He smiled again, left after that.

I heard him come back in a couple of hours later. I can't sleep tonight, so I pretend to be. He tries to be quiet, but the creaking floorboards give him away. He pulls up the covers to my shoulders, then softly brushes some stray hair off of my face. "Night, Summer," he whispers.

And Jack, being Jack, curls up on the floor at the foot of the bed. This makes me smile. Truly smile. With the knowledge that Jack was there, a feeling of peace spreads all over my body. I fall into a dreamless sleep in a matter of minutes.

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**Okay, I know it's relatively short, but I'll do the Reaping in the next chapter. Please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed. Thanks!**


	2. The Reaping

**Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter! Every review helps me refine and flesh out my ideas, so I can make my story that much better. So, as a thank you, I give you...**

**Chapter 2: The Reaping**

The next morning, I wake up to Jack gently shaking me awake. "Hey sleepy head, time to get up."

I groan and roll over in a vain attempt to return to my blissful reality of sleep.

"Five more minutes," I croak out, my words slurring together from my drowsiness.

"Nope, we don't have five minutes. Get up, you lazy bum," he says before grabbing my pillow out from under my head and giving me a solid thunk with it. My response is to pull the covers over my face, hoping for him to go away. He tosses the pillow at me, then leaves. He comes back a minute later. I hear him stop next to my face.

"You asked for it," he says, as he dumps a bucket of icy water on me. I yelp and bolt out of the now quite unwelcoming and soaking-wet bed and onto the cool floorboards.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" I cry as I wipe the water out of my eyes.

Jack laughs, still holding the bucket in his hands. I pick up the now very wet pillow and fling it at him, hitting him square in the chest. This just makes him laugh even harder.

Between gasps for breath, he says, "My parents said that if you want to stay with us, then you'll have to work with us on the boat."

"I can do it, you know that. In fact, I'd be happy to. You and your family are so gracious to take me in like you're doing."

His smile is just so warm that I can't help but return it.

"My mother has made us a small breakfast, and my brother, you remember Gunnar, right? Well, he found some old clothes that'll fit you that you can use," he says as he tosses me a bundle of clothes.

"We're going out on the water today, so I hope you still remember what to do." And with that he left me to change.

We ate some bread with butter, and were about to leave when Jack's mother handed Jack, his brother, his father and I a rare treat-a hard boiled egg. You see, eggs were hard to get in District 4, and what ones you could find were expensive. By the time we were at the boat, I had already eaten mine. While I chewed, I thought about this simple gesture of kindness, and it made me love Jack's family even more, however impossible it seemed.

We spent the entire day out on the water, hauling in nets and enjoying each other's company. The smell of the salt in the air, the cool breeze whipping my hair around my face, and the sound of my own laugh all combined to create a day of carefree happiness. But, like all good things, it all to soon came to an end.

When we made port at sundown, we met the peacekeepers who unceremoniously confiscated our catch and paid us our meager wage. After this exchange, we made for the district square, which was always bustling with people going about their business. We picked up a few much needed items, and were about to head home, when an important looking peacekeeper stepped up onto the steps of the Justice Building.

"Citizens of District 4," his voice bellowed, "may I have your attention?"

We all stopped what we were doing and stared up at him.

"Thank you," he said as he withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket. I noticed that it had the Capitol seal.

"I have an announcement, straight from the desk of President Marks, our great leader."

Numerous people looked around, murmuring questions. Some winced at the sound of the president's name. I stood rooted to the ground, emotionless.

The peacekeeper cleared his throat and began to read from the paper in his hands.

' "On Monday, August the first, at noon, a public Reaping will be held. In this Reaping, two children, one boy and one girl, who are between the ages of twelve and eighteen, will be chosen in a lottery to be entered in the Hunger Games, a televised pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice, where twenty four children will fight to the death, until one lone victor stands. Each eligible child in every district across Panem will be entered once, and the winners of the Reaping will be taken to the Capitol for special preparation in anticipation of the Games. A certified peacekeeper will contact you for registration within the next three days. Thank you, and may the Odds be ever in your favor." '

The peacekeeper fell silent and began folding the paper back up. With one parting glance, he stepped inside the Justice Building's wooden doors, and let them bang closed behind him.

A heavy silence hung over the gathered crowd. Jack was the first to break it. "August first... that's-" "Next week." I said, confirming his fear.

That night, we walked home in silence.

The week leading up to the Reaping flew by faster than I wished. The only thing out of the ordinary was the expected visit of a peacekeeper to register Jack, Gunnar, and I for the Reaping. Before we knew it, August first was here, we were getting ready to head out to the district square to find out who was going to be chosen to compete in the Hunger Games. Mrs. Odair was braiding my hair so that it looked like a waterfall of braids was cascading down my head and onto my shoulders. Fear of the unknown was prevalent in the house, and it even made Jack fall silent. We all walked to the square together, and before Jack, Gunnar and I were forced apart, we shared one moment of peace together, and it was as if there was no one else in the world but us three, holding each other together so we didn't fall apart.

By noon, we were all gathered in the square, boys on one side, girls on the other. I was thrown in with a couple of girls I didn't know very well, who were nervously whispering to each other. Then, out of what seemed like nowhere, the strangest person I had ever seen stepped out of the Justice Building and onto the stage, where a microphone and two glass balls filled to their brims with little white slips of paper stood. At least, the word _person _wasn't exactly the word that first came to my mind. Think more along the lines of _rainbow fish._

The man that walked out of the Justice Building looked so strange to us, that many an eyebrow was raised, some grinned at him, and many sniggered to their neighbor. I overheard one little girl say to her mother, "Mommy, why does the man look like a rainbow?"

She was right, he really did look like a rainbow. The first thing I noticed were his clothes. His suit was bright pink, his hair was dyed an odd shade of green, and his shoes were yellow. Aside from his taste in style, the second thing that struck me about him was his face. Tanned until his skin was almost orange and bleached until his teeth were obnoxiously white, he looked like nothing I had ever seen before. That paired with the fact that his lips looked like they had been stung by bees and stretched unnaturally far didn't help matters. Overall, he looked completely ridiculous.

"Good day, and welcome!" Mr. Rainbow Fish said, in an extremely annoying sounding nasal voice, "Happy Hunger Games to you all! I am Grandis Edenthaw, and I am here in your lovely district to draw the names of two very lucky children, one of which may just win eternal fortune and glory in the Hunger Games!" He smiled stupidly, then went on about the Treaty of Treason, and how wonderful the Capitol is, how much we owe them, blah blah blah. I tuned out pretty quickly, and settled with scrutinizing the dust on my shoe.

Grandis Edenthaw regained my attention when he exclaimed, "And now, it's time to select our tributes. Out of politeness, we shall select the female tribute first."

With that, he stepped over to the glass ball to his left, and stuck his hand deep into the sea of little white slips of paper. He fished around for a moment, then dramatically whipped out a single piece of crisp paper, with some unfortunate soul's name written neatly upon it.

Grandis Edenthaw scuttled excitedly back over to the microphone and unfurled the piece of paper. Then, hardly able to contain his excitement, he proudly read off the tribute's name.

"Summer Remet!"

In that one moment, my life was changed forever.

"Summer, where are you darling?" I hear Grandis Edenthaw say, but I am paralyzed. I can't seem to be able to move, to react. The girls I was standing by pointed at me, signaling to the peacekeepers that I was the new tribute. In what felt like a haze, I am pulled from the crowd and shoved onto the stage next to Grandis. As I walk up, I hear shouting behind me, then a scuffle, and then a cry of pain. I pay it no mind. It's as if I'm disconnected, and I'm watching everything from a million miles away, seeing some other girl in my place.

Once beside Grandis, I gaze out into the crowd. A group of peacekeepers are surrounding someone who I guessed was the person I heard. I can't tell who it is from my view, but the voice did sound familiar. Too familiar.

"Now it's the boy's turn!" Grandis said enthusiastically, seemingly unaware of exactly what was happening. Walking to the glass ball on his right, he grabbed another slip of paper, and returned to the microphone. Once again, he read out the name of the next victim.

"Jackson Odair!"

I am floored when the person who shoves through the peacekeeper's ranks is none other than Jack himself. As my best friend makes his way toward me and the stage, his expression cold and unyielding, I fight the urge to burst into tears. This can't be happening. Jack... they can't take Jack...

Grandis says something, then makes us shake hands before we are taken into the Justice Building and put into separate rooms, where we will wait until we are put on the train bound for the Capitol. In the meantime, family and friends are allowed to see us off and say goodbye.

As I sat in shocked silence, I had only one clear thought: this is happening. My worst fear has just become my reality.

In a minute flat, the Capitol had managed to shatter everything that I thought was real, and replace it with my now everlasting nightmare.

**R/R Please! Constructive criticism is welcomed. Until next time...**

**Harley of Narnia**


	3. Capitol Bound

**A special thank you to all of the people who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry for such a long delay, I've had some things going on at home and school that have taken up my writing time. I hope this makes up for it. **

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**Chapter 3: Capitol Bound **

The room was unnaturally quiet. I was sitting on a soft couch at one end of the room, facing the door. The room was nicely furnished. A framed portrait of President Marks hung above the door.

The wood floorboards outside the door creaked softly, then the doorknob turned. I stood up sharply as the door whined open. Jack's father, mother, and brother stood in the doorway, along with a peacekeeper. "You have three minutes," the peacekeeper said roughly before he shut the door.

Jack's mother stepped toward me swiftly and wrapped her arms around me. I gladly accepted her move and returned the embrace. Her body was shaking slightly, and I could feel a cool drip on my shoulder, then another. She's crying, I thought. I wanted to cry too, to let all of my feelings from the last few hours flow freely out of me, but I knew I couldn't. So I just clenched my jaw and held on to Jack's mother, but it was really the other way around. She was holding me together.

A moment later, she reluctantly pulled away. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy from tears. She managed a small, strained smile, before she whispered, "It's going to be okay." No it's not, I thought. Your youngest son and I are going to die at the hands of some other kid. Nothing is ever going to be okay again. Nothing.

Jack's brother, Gunnar, stepped up next. "We already talked to Jack," he said slowly, "and we just... we just..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He simply engulfed me in an embrace not unlike his brother's. "Just try to make it home okay," he whispered. "Just try."

"Okay..." I whispered. Gunnar drew back, then squeezed my hand at the last moment. I returned the gesture. He nodded his head, then stood next to his mother, who put her arm around his shoulders.

Jack's father was last. He stood in front of me, held my head in his hands, and rested his forehead against mine. "Be brave." That was all he said.

"Alright, time's up," the peacekeeper from earlier said as he opened the door. "That wasn't three minutes!" Gunnar cried. "I said time's up!" the peacekeeper replied harshly. "Come on Gunnar, time to leave," his father said as he brushed my cheek with his thumb. He then turned and led his wife and son out of the door. The peacekeeper closed the door behind them, leaving me alone in the room. The room was unnaturally quiet.

No one else came to see me. I sat in the silence, fingering a loose string on the hem of my dress and thinking about what my life was coming to. _My parents are dead. I'm a runaway. I'm about to be shipped to a government-sanctioned bloodbath. My best and only friend in the whole world is going with me. My life is going to be bloodily cut short at only fourteen years. And I don't know what I'm going to do._

A little less than an hour later, two peacekeepers escorted me out of my room. They led me into the hall, where two other peacekeepers were escorting Jack. I only saw him for a moment before we exited the Justice Building. There was a large and bloody cut on his forehead above his left eye. A purple bruise covered part of his forehead and temple. His lip was busted. His eyes met mine, and in that moment, I saw something in him that I had never seen before-hate. And it scared me to death.

A second after, the doors of the Justice Building were opened, and I was greeted by an astonishing sight: Capitol photographers, news anchors, cameramen, and journalists, all who were asking me questions, taking my picture, sticking microphones in my face. I was so stunned by all of this that I just gazed out into the crowd, not knowing what to make of all of it. I tried to look to Jack for guidance, but his expression was stolid and harsh, and he wouldn't look my way.

We got to the Capitol car that was waiting at the bottom of the steps of the Justice Building, albeit after quite a bit of shoving on the peacekeepers' part. One opened the door and pushed Jack in. He ducked his head, sat, and slid over on the leather seat to make room for me. "Go on," the peacekeeper said. I nodded and stepped toward the door. All of a sudden, time seemed to slow, and one second felt like an hour. I remember being aware of three things in that moment-

the sound of the idle Capitol car's engine,

the sound of the crowd of people behind me,

and the smell of the sea.

Neither of us spoke during the short ride to the train station. I tried to make sense of everything that was happening, but I only became more confused and lost. Jack was impossible to read. He just stared at his hands, unable or unwilling to break the silence between us.

When the car pulled up beside the train, I looked out of the window. The number of people had more than doubled, but I noticed that many were District 4 residents. "They came to see us off," I whispered. Whether it was to myself or to Jack, I still am unsure of, even to this day.

The next moments were a blur. We were taken from the car and escorted a short way to the door of the train car. Jack and I were the only people in that crowd that were silent. The door of the train car opened, and we were ushered inside. The deafening roar of the crowd outside was silenced the second the door slid shut.

And the train started to move.

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**R/R por favor! Sorry so short, I've got more coming soon.**


	4. Introductions

**Chapter 4: Introductions**

I spun around and tried to see out of the window of the train door. I could see people, homes, stores, and the glint of the distant sea, but in a few seconds the train was going too fast for me to make any of it out, and it all became a blur. I turned slowly to face Jack. His eyes expressed a deep sorrow, and it nearly brought me to tears. He slowly walked up to me and put one arm around my shoulders. "Come on," he whispered in my ear as he led me around a corner and into the closest car, which happened to be the dining car.

What I saw next took my breath away. Never in my life had I seen such splendor, such luxury. The room was beautiful. It was spacious, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Soft, plush carpet lined the car from wall to wall. And there was food everywhere. Meats, fruits of every color, pastries, little tiny muffin-looking things, cookies, and pitchers filled to their brims with colorful liquids.

At the large ornately set table in the middle of the room, there was seated none other than Grandis Edenthaw. He had just taken a bite of what looked like a large jelly roll when we stepped in. He took one look at us and immediately jumped up and rushed over to us, saying everything from "Congratulations!" and "How lucky you two kids are!" to "You two are absolutely adorable!" Jack and I just kind of stood there, not knowing what to do. After a minute, Grandis took a step back, sighed, and whispered, "You are going to be perfect." What I assumed was a smile spread across his face, but it just looked like a grimace to me. _I can't imagine the number of surgeries he's had done,_ I thought to myself. He seemed to be waiting for something, so I attempted a small grin. He then burst into a fit of giggles and pinched my cheek before happily returning to his jelly roll at the table. When we didn't follow immediately, he called to us, and rather loudly at that, "Come, have something to eat! You must be absolutely starving!" I just turned and looked at Jack, who in turn looked back at me. He shrugged, and we both stepped toward the table, with his arm still around my shoulders, and rather tightly at that. Not that I minded.

"Please, help yourselves!" Grandis said as he spread his arms wide. "Take anything you'd like. Enjoy it while you can!" I found his comment repulsive. _Enjoy it while you can... We're going to our deaths, and that's what you say? _I thought. Jack somehow could tell what I was thinking and squeezed me tighter, as if he were telling me to hold my tongue. I sighed, and unhappily sat down at one of the chairs that was by the table. Jack quickly sat next to me, and shifted his arm so that it went from draped around my shoulders to under the table, where he held my hand tightly. I interlaced my small fingers into his strong ones and held on for all it was worth.

Grandis was oblivious to us, and simply continued to eat his jelly roll. After a moment, he clapped his hands twice. A boy who looked no older than seventeen stepped into the room. He was dressed in all red, and he didn't make eye contact with any of us. Grandis simply pointed to his half empty glass that sat at his right hand, said, "More," and the boy quickly filled it with whatever Grandis had been drinking. He took a sip from his now full glass before telling the boy, "Give them whatever they want. They're the tributes." The boy glanced at us before stepping quickly to our side. He waited there patiently.

"Go on, tell the Avox what you want," Grandis told us when we didn't respond. I had no idea what an Avox was. The word was as foreign to me as Grandis Edenthaw himself was to Jack and I. I skimmed over the table, and not really seeing anything that I could recognize, pointed to a tall pitcher of dark liquid. "What is that?" I asked the Avox. The Avox's eyes grew a little wider, then softened, but he said nothing. Grandis, on the other hand, began to laugh hysterically. "Silly, you know Avoxes can't talk! They're mutes!" He must have been able to see the confusion on my face, because he then added, "They've had their tongues cut so they can't speak. Don't you know this already?"

I was appalled. My mouth dropped open slightly in surprise, and I felt the blood drain from my face. I was so shocked that I forgot what it was that I wanted. The Avox boy didn't miss a beat though. He slowly poured me a tall glass of the drink and set it at my right hand. I looked up at his face. He had the look of an innocent child. It broke my heart when I saw him look back at me. His eyes were a soft gray, and he smiled softly at me before he straightened up to wait on Jack. I could see Jack out of the corner of my eye-his jaw was clenched, his brow furrowed, and his eyes were drilling the plate in front of him with a hard glare. He then looked up at Grandis and muttered, "Nothing for me, thank you."

Jack and I picked at our meals in silence, but Grandis talked incessantly about how great the Capitol was, and how it was 'a pity we wouldn't be able to truly enjoy it, since we were only going to be here for such a short amount of time'. The second he finished, Jack pushed his chair back and left the car through the sliding glass door behind us. Grandis clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Didn't even excuse himself from the table," he muttered as he dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a silk napkin. Disgusted, I pushed my chair back and left the car too. As I closed the door behind me, I heard Grandis remark to himself, "What a lack of table manners! No wonder they say the ones who live in the districts have barbaric tendencies!" _Look who's talking,_ I thought to myself.

I found Jack a while later after I had pretty much walked the length of the entire train. He was sitting on the floor of the last car and staring out of the windows, which encased the whole car. The car was entirely made of glass, and I could see everything around us. The tracks running beneath my feet, the amber grass as far as the eye could see, and the blue cloudless sky above. What looked like a two-by-four lay at his feet, broken in two. He must have heard me coming, because he turned to face me when I opened the door. He greeted me with a grim smile and stood to his feet. That's when I noticed he was covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily. His hands were bleeding, too.

"What were you doing?" I asked as I closed the distance between us in a couple of quick steps and took his bloody hands in mine. "Your hands-!" "Are fine," he said as he whipped his hands away and spun around. "I'm not going to die, not yet anyway." His shoulders dropped a little and his arms hung slightly limp. Suddenly, he picked up a large table that sat to his right and threw it with all of his strength at the glass wall. The noise of Jack's scream, shattering china and the snapping of the wooden table assaulted my ears, and I jumped back. The glass wasn't even scratched. In clear exhaustion, Jack fell to his knees. I didn't move a muscle. He took a couple of haggard breaths before speaking again. When he did, his voice sounded broken and weak. "I can't get you out of here. I've tried everything." His shoulders slumped down, dejected. "I-I can't protect you..." His voice is so soft that I have to strain to hear him. I didn't know what to do. Never in my life had I seen Jack like this, so broken and distraught, so I did the only thing I could do: I slowly sat down beside him, and I wrapped my arms around him like we used to do when we were little. He rested his head on my shoulder, and I could feel his body shake from exhaustion. "It's okay," I whispered in his ear, "It's all going to be okay." Jack laughed, a sickening, hopeless laugh, and replied, "You sure about that?" _No,_ I thought in my mind, _I'm not._

Jack was fast asleep on my lap within a few short minutes, and as I smoothed his sweaty hair, I finally could attempt to process what the heck was going on. I was still reeling from the fact that Grandis Edenthaw called my name this morning, called my best friend's name, and put us both on a train that was bound for the bloodbath called the Hunger Games. It occurred to me then that there were twenty two other kids in the same boat as Jack and I, and they were just as confused and just as scared. They were probably all asking the same question I was, which was why? The Districts lost the war, that's bad enough, now the Capitol feels the need to put salt in our wounds and kill our children? What does that solve? Or, better yet, what does it prove? That you're stronger and more powerful? That you can do anything and get away with it?

All of these things were flying through my terrified mind when the door opened behind me. Startled, I turned to face the person. It was the avox from earlier. He took one look at the room, then his eyes rested on Jack and I. A look of sad understanding passed over his face, and he quietly walked over to me and knelt down in front of me. He tentatively cupped my face in his hands and got really close to me, so that his face was inches from mine. He looked into my eyes and held my gaze for a moment before mouthing these words: _Bravery. It comes from in here._ He taps my chest with his forefinger, right where my wildly beating heart lay. _I believe in you._ Teary-eyed, I smiled. "Thank you," I whispered. The avox smiled back, and he leans forward and kisses me on my forehead. He then stands to his feet and walks out of the room, without so much as a backward glance.

I watched the sun set that evening in silence. As the brilliant reds, purples, and golds filled the glass train car, I closed my eyes and let the light warm my skin. I imagined that Jack and I were anywhere but where we were, anywhere but on this road to certain death.

That was the last moment of peace that I was ever to have, before my life shattered to pieces before my eyes.

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Please review! Thanks!

Harley


	5. Arrival

**Sorry this chapter is so short, it's kind of filler... But worry not, the next chapter is going to be longer. Enjoy.**

**Me**

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**Chapter 5: Arrival**

The sun had yet to rise when the avox boy gently shook Jack and I awake the next morning. I could see him gesture for us to get up and follow him by the light that was streaming into the car from the hallway behind him. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I stood to my feet and yawned. The avox gestured again, and he turned and walked back toward the front of the train. I followed, and Jack was at my heels.

He led us down the hallway, and I stole a glance at a glowing clock through a cracked door. It read 2:17 AM. I yawned again and ran my fingers over my braids, which were now very messy and unkempt from sleep. "Why are we up so early?" I asked no one in particular. The avox looked back at me, held up a finger and mouthed a single word: _Wait. _

I shrugged, not knowing what exactly I was waiting for, but I still followed obediently. Jack did too.

After a few more moments of walking, the avox stopped in the middle of a car that had a door on the left, and one on the right. A relatively plain looking high-backed wooden chair sat on the right side of each of the doors. The avox pointed me to the chair on the left, mouthed _Wait_ once more, and led Jack through the door on the right.

So I sat down and waited. And I played with the hem of my dress. And I waited. And I counted the tiny marble tiles on the ceiling. Twice. And I waited some more. It felt like I was waiting for over an hour, but it was more likely only twenty minutes or so.

When the avox finally exited the room where he and Jack had been, he closed the door quickly behind him, as if he was trying to hide something from me. I cocked my head slightly to one side and furrowed my brow questioningly. The avox just smiled and crossed the hallway. I stood up from my seat quickly in anticipation. He then opened up the door widely and waved me inside.

The room that I found myself in was unlike anything that I had ever seen before in my life. Plush carpet, expensive looking furniture, and a full length mirror on the opposite wall. But none of this was what stole my breath away. It was the enormous number of dresses that lined the walls.

Long dresses, short dresses, brightly colored dresses, dresses made entirely of jewels that sparkled whenever the light hit them. Pouffy dresses, extremely revealing dresses, feathery dresses. And the shoes! Heels that were six inches high, sandals that wrapped around your entire leg, boots that looked like they had little birds nesting on them. All of these and more assaulted my eyes, and I swear that my jaw hit the floor.

I tore my gaze away from the sight after a moment and was met by the avox's smile. He raised his eyebrows and nodded. _Go ahead,_ he mouthed.

"You mean I get to wear one of these?" I asked, breathless.

The avox nodded again.

So, I did what any girl would have done.

I tore through the racks in search of the perfect dress to wear.

I had never seen so much sparkle or so many different colored fabrics in all of my life. To be completely honest, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. But in the midst of my excitement, a stray question danced through my mind, and it brought my search to a grinding halt. I stared down at the silky hem of the dress that I held in my hand, and as I rubbed it between my fingers I asked, "Why am I getting all dressed up? What's going to happen?"

The avox sighed, and as I looked up into his face, he met my glance with a saddened smile. He then pointed to a tiny window to my left that I hadn't noticed before now.

I dropped the hem of the dress that I had been holding as I stepped to peer through the glass. Far off, I could just make out a glimmer of what looked like the lights of a city. A very large city.

I rested my forehead on the window pane and closed my eyes. I could feel the soft vibration of the train's engine through the glass, and I could hear the quiet rumble of the wheels against the tracks. _Parading us around like a hunter does with his trophies, _I thought. Another glance at the avox confirmed my suspicions. I scoffed, sat down on a plush velvet couch that sat in the middle of the room, and put my head in my hands. "This is not happening, this is simply not happening..." I whispered over and over. I heard the avox step away to my right for a moment, and then return shortly. I looked up, and in his hands he held a sunset orange gown. He held it out for me to take, which I did. The fabric was soft to the touch, and it had sleeves that fell to my wrists. A shimmering belt was wrapped around the waist. Out of all of the dresses that were in this car, this one was the simplest, but also the most elegant. I smiled a little. The avox smiled too.

Not long after donning the dress and getting my hair and makeup done, Jack and I were standing side by side before the door that led to the throng of Capitol citizens that were awaiting us on the platform. Even though they couldn't see us yet, the screams from the crowd pierced the train car and shook the windows, teacups, and even the chandelier that hung in the hallway. Jack was looking away from me, but I had a feeling that if I could have seen his face, it would have been dripping with malice. He tugged at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably with one hand, while the other rested all balled up in his pocket. A couple of seconds later, Grandis said in that shrill voice of his, "Give them what they're paying for! Remember to be excited, and don't forget to smile!"

And then the door opened.

The screams became deafening as the crowd caught their first glimpse of us. "The tributes from District Four!" a loudspeaker blared out from somewhere. The screaming people in the crowd were so strangely dressed that I thought for a half a second that they weren't even human at all. From somewhere on my left, a peacekeeper took me by the arm and tried to lead me through the crowd. Before I had even taken a step though, Jack had grasped my wrist in his strong, calloused fingers, and held on so tight it hurt. I didn't say anything. However, I did look back at him.

He was staring straight ahead, past me and into the crowd.

If looks could kill...

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**Again, sorry so short. Review por favor!**


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